Helen Mirren goes royal again with 'Catherine The Great' and we can't wait to see her turn as the Russian empress
Helen Mirren is no stranger to playing royalty. In HBO's limited series 'Catherine the Great', the accomplished actor not only takes on the titutalr role but also serves as the executive producer on the project. The four-part series follows the life of Russian empress Catherine, who ruled Russia in the 18th century. The series focuses on the latter part of Catherine's life towards the end of her reign and also explores Catherine's passionate affair with Grigory Potemkin. The show will further portray how Catherine's life was influenced by the politically tumultuous court. Since this is not the first time that Mirren has played the role of royalty, we are more excited to see how Mirren adapts to playing a Russian monarch as compared to the British monarchs she has played multiple times in the past.
Her turn as Queen Charlotte in the 1994 film 'The Madness of King George' got her nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category and won her the Best Actress award at Cannes. Mirren also portrayed Queen Elizabeth in the 2006 film 'Queen', which centred on Princess Diana’s untimely death in 1997. This film fetched Mirren the Academy Award for Best Actress and marked her as one of the most exemplary performers to portray such roles in films. So it is not surprising to see Mirren signing up to play the role of an Empress.
It will be exciting to see how Mirren will breathe life into this character, considering her Russian pedigree. With multiple shows available to stream in the same genre, such as 'The Crown' and 'Victoria', what may set 'Catherine the Great' apart is the lead actor and the fact that the show centres on an empress instead of a czar.
We have seen Netflix's 'The Last Czar', which is another period court drama that portrays the life of Russian monarchy. We do have films such as 'Anastasia' starring Ingrid Bergman which dips into the genre of period drama set in Russia but it is not exactly a court drama. This time period has been time and again explored from a male perspective and so putting Catherine in the spotlight and providing a different viewpoint, makes it interesting.
The second difference is the fact that the show will throw a spotlight on Catherine's love life. It will not just be a plot device used to further the lead character's development, but we will see how the relationship between her and Grigory Potemkin panned out. Empress Catherine was a sexually liberated, intelligent and independent woman who was one of the architects, so to speak, of modern-day Russia.
'Catherine the Great' will premiere on October 21 on HBO.